I think that there comes a point in every person’s life where they look up at the sky with its glorious array of diamonds and question: where did we come from and why are we here?

In my nearly 3 decades of life, I have come across multiple theories to answer that first question, and subsequently the second. Growing up, the people I surrounded myself with firmly believed that we were created by the Christian God, and therefore our purpose in life was to serve him. I have read of others who believe that we came from other gods, and our purpose in life is to follow those dogmas or bow to certain individuals.

Branching out from my youth, I have met people who believe that we came from a big explosion that happened in the universe by chance, and therefore we don’t really have a purpose in life. Still other firmly believe that we are a product of an alien race and early humanoids, and our purpose is to raise our vibrations to reach what we once were.

If you know me well, you know I am the type of person who likes to KNOW. As in, if there is a piece of information that I get wind of, I want to own that information for myself, no matter what it pertains to. This includes the lowest forms of office gossip to the highest, most secret matters of the universe.

Yet, with all this thirst for knowledge, there comes a point where I have to admit to myself that I may NEVER know. I may never know where we came from or who or what made us or why we are REALLY here. Yet this does not give me an excuse to forgo my own answer to the second question: why are we here?

At the end of the day, I honestly don’t think it matters if there is a benevolent God, an Evil God, a Greek god, a Muslim god, or an alien spaceship that reveals itself to be the brains behind our existence. Everything positive that comes out in this world has shown itself to come from one thing: pure love.

When a baby first comes into the universe, they are surrounded by nothing but love. Even when they have nothing to offer the parents except a whole lot of sleepless nights and poopy diapers, there is still an inexplicable love that drives every decision that those parents make.

When we see the incredible creations of music, dance, song, and art, that beauty comes from a place of unadulterated love for that creative process. Songs that were written in a burst of passion for someone or something that that artist loved never fail to physically move something in our heart of hearts.

In the same vein, acts of service or sacrifice that lead to amazing results are always done out of love: love for a person, love for an organization, or love of a concept. Onlookers can immediately tell the difference between actions propelled by love and actions propelled by any other emotion, no matter if the actions look the same from the outside.

Even in the less grandiose things of life, love always find a way to make even the smallest of moments shine brighter. That last kiss before waving goodbye to your lover. That hug that tightens right before your mom heads home. That moment of beautiful silence when you’re watching the sunset with a close friend.

We as the human race have long placed a high emphasis on beauty. Yet the most true, unadulterated beauty comes from a place of pure, unadulterated love. When a man, wrinkled with time and experience, squeezes his love’s equally spotted hand and whispers that she is the most beautiful girl in the room. When a flower finally blooms, and the gardener brushes the dirt off of her hands while beaming a smile that rivals the sun’s. When a baby, wrinkled, red, and screaming to the heavens is placed in his mother’s arms and her heart leaps with happiness. These are moments that are made truly beautiful by love.

And so in my perspective, gods, aliens, or giants be what they may: I say that our purpose in life is simply to love.

Love fiercely. Love completely. Love openly. Love giddily.

Choose love. But not just any love. Don’t choose the love of power, or the love of money, or the love of indulgence-that isn’t real love. TRUE love comes from deep within our beings, and is multiplied when we find that true love in others.

Collect beautiful moments. Remember that absolute beauty comes from absolute love. And absolute love is something that every. single. person. is capable of, no matter how smart, physically strong, or experienced you are.

Regardless of how much money we spend to keep time at bay, it WILL eventually all come to an end. And in that end, our love that we’ve spent will come back to us as a blanket that will cover our naked soul in its journey to whatever lies beyond. How soft and thick that blanket is will always be up to the life that was lived before.

So for my money, I’m going to weave like my live depends upon it. Because ultimately…I really think it does.